NorthernAbGuy Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hey All. I am making extremely low numbers of lures, only for myself. It started because I wanted to try out Gel-A-Lure to do some of my favorite shapes in some different color combinations. After making some plaster molds, I found out I needed aluminum molds for Gel-A-lure. So basically, I just took my PoP molds out to the garage and reproduced them into aluminum using casting sand. Anyone else doing this? I don't have any experience creating molds with a milling machine or CNC stuff, and basically all I need is my foundry sand, some wooden frames and my little propane fired furnace. I use recycled aluminum, good stuff that I have saved up from having worked in the motorcycle industry. It really is a low cost way of making things, I made almost every component myself, from the furnace, crucible, and the cope and drag mold frames. Anyone else out there CASTING their own aluminum molds? So far I am only making one peice/open face molds. I am about to try some of my own designs, and may progress to 2 peice molds using lost foam in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipt Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 ive been making pop molds for a while, id be interested in getting into aluminum but those temps scare me. pictures would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernAbGuy Posted February 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 I pretty much got started by reading the kind of stuff I could find on the Internet, and going from there. I read some of the foundry books that are out there, I did some silver smithing and casting pewter a while ago. I've melted aluminum on the table top with MAP gas in a coffee can furnace plenty of times for small stuff. I always wear welding gloves, long pants, steel toes, long sleeves and safety glasses. I'm also doing this outside, other than preparing the molds. I will try & get pics next time I fire up the furnace. It looks pretty cool at night with a foot of flame coming out of the furnace, red hot crucible, and shiny quicksilver aluminum being poured into molds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass4Me Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 What is the finish like on your baits? I did some foundry work in my senior yr of HS while taking Industrial Arts. I made a circled peace sigh and remember it took a lot of work with a file and special sandpaper for metals to get a shiny finished piece. After pouring the molten metal and cooling - the surface was dull and had some small pits. Now I wonder if the mold was machined correctly and defect free, would the baits poured in the final alum mold be smooth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernAbGuy Posted April 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 The molds turn out pretty smooth, Smooth enough for me anyways, I am just making stuff with Gel a lure anyways, and playing with some of my own designs. Packing the sand really tight helps get a good finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernAbGuy Posted April 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2013 Here's a few more pictures from my setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 interesting, could you make a mold out of lead? would be doable for the masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
